Singapore shares open lower on Friday; STI down 0.2%

SINGAPORE stocks declined at the opening bell on Friday (Oct 4), after geopolitical tensions in the Middle East left Wall Street and European markets in a sea of red.

As at 9.02 am, the Straits Times Index (STI) fell 5.41 points or 0.2 per cent to 3,572.02. Across the broader market, gainers outnumbered losers 60 to 55, with 43.3 million securities worth S$49.8 million having changed hands.

Oil exploration and production company Rex International was the most actively traded counter by volume. The counter gained 3.4 per cent or S$0.004 to S$0.122 after 8.1 million shares were traded.

Other briskly transacted counters included department store operator Parkson Retail, which rose 13.2 per cent or S$0.009 to S$0.077, and upstream oil producer RH Petrogas, which climbed 4.7 per cent or S$0.008 to S$0.18.

Banking stocks were trading mixed at the open. DBS rose 0.1 per cent or S$0.02 to S$37.86. UOB fell 0.4 per cent or S$0.11 to S$31.60, and OCBC declined 0.3 per cent or S$0.05 to S$14.87.

Wall Street stocks slipped on Thursday, extending a downcast week as markets assessed tensions in the Middle East and awaited key US jobs data. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 0.4 per cent to 42,011.59. The broad-based S&P 500 declined 0.2 per cent to 5,699.94; the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index slipped less than 0.1 per cent to 17,918.48.

Over in Europe, shares declined on Thursday as investors remained wary of risk-taking amid elevated geopolitical tensions in the Middle East, with most sectors (excepting the energy giants) logging declines. The pan-European Stoxx 600 closed 0.9 per cent lower at 516.29, touching its lowest level in more than a week.